Data collection method, mobile terminal and data storage device

ABSTRACT

A first mobile terminal requests a device to transmit data, on the basis of a processing request transmitted from a management server. The device transmits the requested data to the first mobile terminal. The first mobile terminal generates processed data by using the data received from the device. The first mobile terminal assigns an identifier to the processed data. The first mobile terminal transmits the processed data in association with the identifier to the management server. The first mobile terminal transmits an association relationship between the identifier and the data used for generating the processed data to the device. The device stores the identifier in association with the transmitted data. A second mobile terminal transmits to the device an identifier transmitted from the management server as an identifier associated with data to be deleted. The device identifies data associated with the identifier received from the second mobile terminal.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/738,007filed Jan. 10, 2013, which is based upon and claims the benefit ofpriority of the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-077853, filedon Mar. 29, 2012, the entire contents of which are incorporated hereinby reference.

FIELD

The embodiments discussed herein are related to a data collectionmethod, a mobile terminal and a data storage device.

BACKGROUND

In recent years, M2M services that enable devices connected to a networkto exchange information with each other without a person andautomatically execute the optimal control are widely used. In addition,cloud systems that provide M2M services are becoming widely adopted. Forexample, there is a system in which wireless communication terminalsform an ad-hoc network and a cloud server collects information such assensor values from the wireless communication terminals.

In order to suppress an introduction cost, a phone line or a thirdgeneration network is used. For example, the cloud server collectsoperating states and states of consumable supplies from remote deviceson behalf of customers. Then, customer monitoring agents use mobilephones to access the cloud server and figure out the states of thedevices.

Japanese National Publication of International Patent Application No.2002-512829 and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-169090disclose related techniques.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the present invention, provided is a datacollection method. In the method, a first mobile terminal requests adevice to transmit data, on the basis of a processing requesttransmitted from a management server. The device transmits the requesteddata to the first mobile terminal. The first mobile terminal receivesthe transmitted data. The first mobile terminal generates processed databy using the received data. The first mobile terminal assigns anidentifier to the processed data. The first mobile terminal transmitsthe processed data in association with the identifier to the managementserver. The first mobile terminal transmits an association relationshipbetween the identifier and the data used for generating the processeddata to the device. The device stores the identifier in association withthe transmitted data. A second mobile terminal transmits to the devicean identifier transmitted from the management server as an identifierassociated with data to be deleted. The device receives the identifiertransmitted from the second mobile terminal. The device identifies dataassociated with the received identifier.

The object and advantages of the invention will be realized and attainedby means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out inthe claims.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and arenot restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an overall configurationof a system according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of amobile terminal according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in awork buffer;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in anassociation list;

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of adata storage server according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram of data processing that is executed by asystem according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram of data deletion that is executed by asystem according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a process that is executed by a collectingterminal;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a process that is executed by a deletingterminal;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a process that is executed by a data storageserver;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a process that is executed by a managementserver;

FIG. 12 is a diagram describing a flow in which mobile terminals relay arequest;

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a mobile terminalcollects raw data through another mobile terminal; and

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of hardware configurationsof the mobile terminals.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

A communication cost for the third generation network, however, is high.In addition, if the system is large, a load of the cloud server is high.Thus, it may be considered that the communication cost is suppressed byusing Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) instead of the third generation networkand the load of the cloud server is reduced by causing terminals such assmart phones to process data or the like. In such a case, however, theamount of traffic in a network is large.

Smart phones that execute communication by using Wi-Fi will be describedbelow as an example. A smart phone that is located near a cloud serverreceives a request to process data from the cloud server. The smartphone that has received the processing request collects the data to beused for the processing from a device and generates processed data. Thesmart phone transmits the processed data to the cloud server. Uponreceiving the processed data, the cloud server transmits a deletionrequest to a smart phone located near the cloud server. The smart phonethat has received the deletion request deletes the data used for theprocessing from the device.

In a system that uses Wi-Fi and smart phones, a terminal that collectsdata may be different from a terminal that deletes the data. Thus,devices manage an association relationship between processed data anddata used for generating the processed data. The devices transmit andreceive the processed data and the deletion request, which areaccompanied with the data used for processing. As a result, the dataamounts of packets become large and the amount of traffic in a networkbecomes large. In addition, the system may cause a packet transmissionerror and a packet loss, thus reducing the reliability of the system.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a data collection method, a mobile terminaland a data storage device will be described in detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings. The data collection method, the mobileterminal and the data storage device, however, are not limited to theembodiments.

First Embodiment

Overall Configuration of System

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an overall configurationof a system according to a first embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 1,the system includes a mobile terminal MTA, a mobile terminal MTB, datastorage servers 30 and a management server 40. In the system, themanagement server 40 and the data storage servers 30 do not directlyexecute data communication with each other. The number of mobileterminals, the number of servers and the like are examples and notlimited to those illustrated in FIG. 1.

The mobile terminals MTA and MTB are wireless communication devices suchas smart phones or mobile phones and held by users. The mobile terminalsMTA and MTB execute near field communication by using Wi-Fi or the likeand may thereby wirelessly communicate with the data storage servers 30and the management server 40.

The data storage servers 30 are server devices that stores data. Thedata storage servers 30 store data generated by the devices, forexample, backup results, system logs, error logs, and the like. The datastorage servers 30 execute near field communication by using Wi-Fi orthe like and may thereby wirelessly communicate with the mobileterminals MTA and MTB and the management server 40.

The management server 40 is a server device that collects data held bythe data storage servers 30 and manages the collected data. Themanagement server 40 corresponds to a cloud server for the mobileterminals MTA and MTB. The management server 40 executes near fieldcommunication by using Wi-Fi or the like and may thereby wirelesslycommunicate with the mobile terminals MTA and MTB and the data storageservers 30.

In the aforementioned state, the mobile terminal MTA comes close enoughto the management server 40 to communicate with the management server 40by using Wi-Fi, as the user of the mobile terminal MTA transfers. Themanagement server 40 detects the presence of the mobile terminal MTA byusing Wi-Fi and transmits a request to process data to the mobileterminal MTA. The mobile terminal MTA that has received the processingrequest comes close enough to the data storage servers 30 to communicatewith the data storage servers 30 by using Wi-Fi, as the user of themobile terminal MTA transfers.

Then, the mobile terminal MTA uses Wi-Fi to transmit, to the datastorage servers 30, a request to acquire raw data to be used for thedata processing. After that, the mobile terminal MTA uses the raw dataacquired from the data storage servers 30 to generate processed data andassigns a unique identifier (ID) to the generated processed data. Inthis example, the unique ID is assigned after the generation of theprocessed data. However, the unique ID may be assigned to the processeddata to be generated, before the generation of the processed data.

The mobile terminal MTA transmits an association relationship betweenthe raw data used for the processing and the unique ID to the datastorage servers 30. The data storage servers 30 hold the associationrelationship between the raw data transmitted to the mobile terminal MTAand the unique ID.

After that, the mobile terminal MTA that holds the processed data comesclose enough to the management server 40 to communicate with themanagement server 40 by using Wi-Fi, as the user transfers. Then, themobile terminal MTA transmits the processed data to the managementserver 40 by using Wi-Fi. In this manner, the management server 40 maycollect the processed data generated from the data held by the datastorage servers 30.

When the management server 40 detects the presence of the mobileterminal MTB by using Wi-Fi, the management server 40 transmits anacknowledgment (ACK) containing the unique ID to the mobile terminalMTB. The ACK is a response corresponding to the request to process thedata. The mobile terminal MTB that has received the ACK comes closeenough to the data storage servers 30 to communicate with the datastorage servers 30 by using Wi-Fi, the user of the mobile terminal MTBtransfers.

Then, the mobile terminal MTB transmits the ACK to the data storageservers 30 by using Wi-Fi. The data storage servers 30 identify the rawdata associated with the unique ID contained in the received ACK. Afterthat, the data storage servers 30 delete the identified raw data, forexample. In this manner, the management server 40 may delete the rawdata used for generating the processed data by using the transfer of themobile terminal MTB.

As described above, when the data storage servers 30 and the managementserver 40 communicate with each other by using the near fieldcommunication with a plurality of mobile terminals, a unique ID isassociated with data to be transmitted from the data storage servers 30to the management server 40. The same unique ID is associated with anACK to be transmitted from the management server 40 to the data storageservers 30. Then, the ACK is transmitted. Thus, even when a terminalthat collects data is different from a terminal that deletes the data, acommon unique ID within the system may be transmitted, and the amount oftraffic may be suppressed.

Configurations of Mobile Terminals

Next, configurations of the mobile terminals MTA and MTB illustrated inFIG. 1 will be described. The mobile terminals MTA and MTB have the sameconfiguration and the same configuration will be described as aconfiguration of a mobile terminal 10. FIG. 2 is a functional blockdiagram illustrating a configuration of the mobile terminal 10 accordingto the first embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the mobile terminal 10 includes a work buffer11, an association list 12, a wireless communication unit 13, a requestreception unit 14, a list generation unit 15, an ID assignment unit 16,an ID notification unit 17, a processed data generation unit 18 and aprocessed data transmission unit 19. These processing units of themobile terminal 10 are achieved by causing a processor such as a centralprocessing unit (CPU) to execute a program. The work buffer 11 is astorage device such as a memory or a hard disk. The association list 12is held by a storage device such as a memory or a hard disk.

The work buffer 11 is a storage unit that stores information used by theprocessed data generation unit 18 to generate processed data or thelike. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the informationstored in the work buffer 11. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the work buffer11 stores “a processed data name, constituent elements, and receptionstates” in association with one another. The information stored in thework buffer 11 is generated and updated by the list generation unit 15and the processed data generation unit 18.

The “processed data name” is an identifier that identifies the processeddata requested by the management server 40. For example, the name of theprocessed data, the ID of the processed data, or the like is set in anitem for the “processed data name” in the work buffer 11. The“constituent elements” are identifiers that identify raw data to be usedfor generating the processed data. For example, the names of the rawdata, the IDs of the raw data, or the like are set in items for the“constituent elements” in the work buffer 11. The “reception states” areinformation that indicates whether or not the mobile terminal 10 hasreceived the raw data from the data storage servers 30. In the exampleillustrated in FIG. 3, the processed data with an identifier “PD_1” maybe generated from the raw data with identifiers “RD_1”, “RD_2”, “RD_3”and “RD_4”. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, the raw data with theidentifiers “RD_1” and “RD_3” has been received, and the raw data withthe identifiers “RD_2” and “RD_4” is yet to be received.

The association list 12 stores information that indicates an associationrelationship between a unique ID assigned to the processed data and theraw data that constitutes the processed data. The association list 12 isgenerated by the list generation unit 15 or the like. FIG. 4 is adiagram illustrating an example of the information stored in theassociation list 12. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the association list 12includes “the processed data name, the unique ID and the constituentelements”.

The “processed data name” is the identifier that identifies theprocessed data requested by the management server 40. For example, thename of the processed data, the ID of the processed data, or the like isset in an item for the “processed data name” in the association list 12.The “unique ID” is an identifier that identifies the processed data. The“constituent elements” are the identifiers that identify the raw data tobe used for generating the processed data. For example, the names of theraw data, the IDs of the raw data, or the like are set in items for the“constituent elements” in the association list 12. The exampleillustrated in FIG. 4 indicates that a unique ID “001” is assigned tothe processed data that has the identifier “PD_1” and has been generatedfrom the raw data with the identifiers “RD_1”, “RD_2”, “RD_3” and“RD_4”. Thus, the raw data with the identifiers “RD_1”, “RD_2”, “RD_3”and “RD_4” may be identified by the unique ID “001”.

The wireless communication unit 13 is a processing unit that executesthe near field wireless communication by using Wi-Fi or the like. Forexample, while operating a near field wireless communication function,the wireless communication unit 13 detects another device located closeenough to the wireless communication unit 13 to communicate with thewireless communication unit 13. The wireless communication unit 13notifies the processing units that the wireless communication unit 13has detected a device wirelessly communicable with the mobile terminal10 and notifies the processing units of information regarding thedetected device.

The request reception unit 14 is a processing unit that receives variousrequests from the management server 40 detected by the wirelesscommunication unit 13. For example, the request reception unit 14receives a processing request from the management server 40 and outputsthe processing request to the list generation unit 15. The requestreception unit 14 receives, from the management server 40, an ACKindicating a deletion request and outputs the ACK to the ID notificationunit 17.

The list generation unit 15 is a processing unit that generates anassociation relationship between the processed data and the raw data onthe basis of the processing request. For example, the list generationunit 15 extracts, from the processing request received by the requestreception unit 14, the identifier of the processed data, the identifiersof the raw data to be used for generating the processed data, and thelike. Then, the list generation unit 15 generates information regardingthe association relationship between the processed data and the rawdata, in which the extracted identifier of the processed data isassociated with the extracted identifiers of the raw data.

The ID assignment unit 16 is a processing unit that assigns a unique IDto the association relationship generated by the list generation unit15. When the list generation unit 15 generates a relationship betweenthe processed data and the raw data, for example, the ID assignment unit16 issues a unique ID for the relationship. In other words, the IDassignment unit 16 issues the unique ID for the processed data. The IDassignment unit 16 generates the association list 12 in which theidentifier of the processed data, the identifiers of the raw data, andthe unique ID are associated with one another. In addition, the IDassignment unit 16 notifies the ID notification unit 17 that theassociation list 12 has been generated.

The ID notification unit 17 is a processing unit that transmits theunique ID to the data storage servers 30. Specifically, the IDnotification unit 17 transmits the unique ID corresponding to the datato be used for generating the processed data or the unique IDcorresponding to the data to be deleted, through the near field wirelesscommunication using Wi-Fi or the like.

For example, when the association list 12 is generated, the IDnotification unit 17 extracts the association relationship between theraw data and the unique ID from the association list 12 and transmitsthe extracted association relationship to the data storage servers 30.Upon receiving the unique ID from the request reception unit 14, thatis, receiving the unique ID contained in the ACK transmitted by themanagement server 40, the ID notification unit 17 transmits the receivedunique ID to the data storage servers 30 through the near field wirelesscommunication using Wi-Fi or the like.

The processed data generation unit 18 is a processing unit thatgenerates the processed data in accordance with the processing requestreceived by the request reception unit 14. For example, the processeddata generation unit 18 references the association list 12 to generateinformation to be used to manage reception states of the raw data to beused for generating the processed data and store the generatedinformation in the work buffer 11. Specifically, the processed datageneration unit 18 generates a table including the processed data name,the constituent elements and the reception states and stores the tablein the work buffer 11.

Then, the processed data generation unit 18 updates the reception statesupon receiving the raw data from the data storage servers 30 connectedto the mobile terminal 10 through the wireless communication unit 13.Upon receiving all the raw data to be used for generating the processeddata, the processed data generation unit 18 generates the processeddata. Note that the processing request includes information regardingthe processed data and information regarding the raw data. The processeddata generation unit 18 stores the generated processed data in the workbuffer 11.

The processed data transmission unit 19 is a processing unit thattransmits the processed data generated by the processed data generationunit 18 to the management server 40 through the near field wirelesscommunication using Wi-Fi or the like. Specifically, when the workbuffer 11 has the processed data stored therein and the managementserver 40 is detected by the wireless communication unit 13, theprocessed data transmission unit 19 transmits the processed data to themanagement server 40 by using Wi-Fi or the like. For example, theprocessed data transmission unit 19 extracts the associationrelationship between the processed data and the unique ID from the workbuffer 11 and transmits the association relationship to the managementserver 40.

Configuration of Data Storage Server

Next, a configuration of the data storage server 30 illustrated in FIG.1 will be described. FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram illustrating aconfiguration of the data storage server 30.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the data storage server 30 includes anassociation list 31, storage 32, a wireless communication unit 33, alist reception unit 34, a data transmission unit 35, an ACK receptionunit 36 and a deletion unit 37. These processing units of the datastorage server 30 are achieved by causing a processor such as a CPU toexecute a program. The storage 32 is a storage device such as a memoryor a hard disk. The association list 31 is held by a storage device suchas a memory or a hard disk.

The association list 31 is received from the mobile terminal 10. Forexample, the stored association list 31 includes the “constituentelements” and the “unique ID” that are included in the association listillustrated in FIG. 4. The association list 31 is stored by the listreception unit 34.

The storage 32 is a storage device that stores raw data. Data stored ina data storage server 30 may not be the same as data stored in anotherdata storage server 30. The data stored in the storage 32 is deleted bythe deletion unit 37. A control unit (not illustrated) such as a datageneration unit generates the data and stores the data in the storage32.

The wireless communication unit 33 is a processing unit that executesthe near field wireless communication by using Wi-Fi or the like. Forexample, while operating a near field wireless communication function,the wireless communication unit 33 detects a mobile terminal 10 locatedclose enough to the data storage server 30 to communicate with the datastorage server 30. The wireless communication unit 33 notifies theprocessing units that the wireless communication unit 33 has detected amobile terminal 10 wirelessly communicable with the data storage server30 and notifies the processing units of information regarding thedetected mobile terminal 10.

The list reception unit 34 is a processing unit that receives theassociation relationship between the raw data and the unique ID from themobile terminal 10 detected by the wireless communication unit 33. Forexample, upon receiving the association relationship between the rawdata and the unique ID, the list reception unit 34 causes the receivedassociation relationship to be held as the association list 31 in thedata storage server 30. The list reception unit 34 outputs, to the datatransmission unit 35, information indicating that the association list31 has been generated.

The data transmission unit 35 is a processing unit that transmits rawdata to the mobile terminal 10. Specifically, when the association list31 is generated by the list reception unit 34, the data transmissionunit 35 references the association list 31 to identify the raw data tobe used for generating the processed data. Then, the data transmissionunit 35 reads the identified raw data from the storage 32 and transmits,through the near field wireless communication executed by the wirelesscommunication unit 33, the raw data to the mobile terminal 10 that hasrequested the raw data. For example, when the data transmission unit 35references the association list 31 and identifies the raw data with theidentifier “RD_1”, the data transmission unit 35 reads the raw datacorresponding to the identifier “RD_1” from the storage 32 and transmitsthe read raw data to the mobile terminal 10.

The ACK reception unit 36 is a processing unit that receives an ACK fromthe mobile terminal 10 detected by the wireless communication unit 33.Specifically, upon receiving an ACK from the mobile terminal 10, the ACKreception unit 36 extracts the unique ID from the ACK and outputs theextracted unique ID to the deletion unit 37. For example, the ACKreception unit 36 receives, from the mobile terminal 10, an ACKtransmitted by the management server 40, extracts a unique ID “001” fromthe received ACK, and outputs the extracted unique ID “001” to thedeletion unit 37.

The deletion unit 37 is a processing unit that deletes raw data from thestorage 32. For example, upon receiving the unique ID “001” from the ACKreception unit 36, the deletion unit 37 references the association list31 and identifies the identifiers “RD_1” and “RD_2” that are associatedwith the unique ID “001”. Then, the deletion unit 37 deletes the rawdata corresponding to the identifiers “RD_1” and “RD_2”.

The management server 40 has the same configuration as a generalmanagement server, and a detailed description thereof is omitted. Forexample, the management server 40 includes a similar processing unit asthe wireless communication unit 33, a processing unit for transmitting aprocessing request, and a processing unit for transmitting an ACK. Themanagement server 40 causes information regarding processed data to begenerated, a method for generating the processed data, and raw data tobe used for generating the processed data to be included in a processingrequest and transmits the processing request to the mobile terminal 10.In addition, the management server 40 transmits an ACK containing aunique ID corresponding to data to be deleted to the mobile terminal 10.

Data Processing

Next, a sequence of data processing that is executed by the systemillustrated in FIG. 1 will be described. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram ofthe data processing that is executed by the system according to thefirst embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, when a mobile terminal 10 comes into contactwith the management server 40 (in S101 and S102), the management server40 transmits a processing request to the mobile terminal 10 (in S103 andS104). For example, when the wireless communication unit 13 of themobile terminal 10 detects a radio wave transmitted by the managementserver 40 and confirms the location of the management server 40, and thewireless communication unit of the management server 40 detects a radiowave transmitted by the mobile terminal 10 and confirms the location ofthe mobile terminal 10, the management server 40 transmits theprocessing request to the mobile terminal 10.

When the request reception unit 14 of the mobile terminal 10 receivesthe processing request (in S105), the list generation unit 15 generates,in accordance with the processing request, a list that indicates anassociation relationship between processed data to be generated and rawdata (in S106).

Subsequently, the ID assignment unit 16 of the mobile terminal 10assigns a unique ID to the list generated by the list generation unit 15to generate an association list 12 (in S107). After that, the mobileterminal 10 stands by until a user who holds the mobile terminal 10transfers to a location near the data storage servers 30 (in S108).

After that, when the mobile terminal 10 comes into contact with the datastorage servers 30 (in 5109 to S111), the ID notification unit 17 of themobile terminal 10 extracts an association relationship between the rawdata and the unique ID from the association list 12 generated by the IDassignment unit 16 and transmits the extracted association relationshipto the data storage servers 30 (in S112 to S114).

After that, the list reception units 34 of the data storage servers 30store, as the association lists 31, the association relationship betweenthe raw data and the unique ID, which has been received from the mobileterminal 10 (in S115 and S116). Subsequently, the data transmission unit35 of each data storage server 30 references the association list 31,reads the raw data held by each data storage server 30 from the storage32, and transmits the read raw data to the mobile terminal 10 (in S117to S120).

Then, the processed data generation unit 18 of the mobile terminal 10uses the raw data received from the data storage servers 30 to generatethe processed data (in S121). After that, the mobile terminal 10 standsby until the user who holds the mobile terminal 10 transfers to alocation near the management server 40 (in S122). When the mobileterminal 10 comes into contact with the management server 40 (in S123and S124), the processed data transmission unit 19 of the mobileterminal 10 transmits a combination of the generated processed data andthe unique ID to the management server 40 (in S125 and S126).

Data Deletion

Next, a sequence of data deletion that is executed by the systemillustrated in FIG. 1 will be described. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram ofthe data deletion that is executed by the system according to the firstembodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, when a mobile terminal 10 comes into contactwith the management server 40 (in S201 and S202), the management server40 transmits an ACK containing the unique ID to the mobile terminal 10(in S203 and S204). Upon receiving the ACK (in S205), the mobileterminal 10 stands by until a user who holds the mobile terminal 10transfers to a location near the data storage servers 30 (in S206).

After that, when the mobile terminal 10 comes into contact with the datastorage servers 30 (in S207 to S209), the ID notification unit 17 of themobile terminal 10 transmits the ACK containing the unique ID to thedata storage servers 30 (in S210 to S212).

In each data storage server 30, the ACK reception unit 36 extracts theunique ID from the ACK. The deletion unit 37 identifies the raw dataassociated with the unique ID on the basis of the association lists 31and deletes the identified raw data from the storage 32 (in S213 andS214).

Flowchart

Next, processes that are executed by the devices according to the firstembodiment will be described. Specifically, a process to be executed bya collecting terminal, a process to be executed by a deleting terminal,a process to be executed by the data storage servers 30 and a process tobe executed by the management server 40 will be described.

Collecting Terminal

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the process that is executed by the collectingterminal. The collecting terminal that is described with reference toFIG. 8 has the same configuration as the mobile terminal 10 illustratedin FIG. 2. As illustrated in FIG. 8, when the collecting terminal comesinto contact with the data storage servers 30 or the management server40 (Yes in S301), the collecting terminal determines whether or not thecollecting terminal has received raw data (in S302).

When the collecting terminal determines that the collecting terminal hasreceived the raw data (Yes in S302), the collecting terminal stores thereceived raw data in the work buffer 11 (in S303) and determines whetherit is ready to generate processed data (in S304). Specifically, thecollecting terminal determines whether or not the collecting terminalhas collected all the raw data to be used for generating the processeddata. When the collecting terminal determines that it is not ready togenerate the processed data, that is, the collecting terminal has notreceived any of the raw data (No in S304), the collecting terminalcauses the process to return to S301 to repeat S301 and later.

When the collecting terminal determines that it is ready to generate theprocessed data, that is, the collecting terminal has received all theraw data (Yes in S304), the collecting terminal reads the raw data fromthe work buffer 11 (in S305), and processes the raw data to generateprocessed data (in S306).

Subsequently, the collecting terminal associates a unique ID with thegenerated processed data (in S307), and transmits, through the nearfield wireless communication, the processed data and the unique ID tothe management server 40 detected as being wirelessly communicable (inS308).

When the collecting terminal determines that the collecting terminal hasnot received raw data (No in S302), the collecting terminal determineswhether or not the collecting terminal has received a request togenerate processed data, that is, a processing request (in S309). Whenthe collecting terminal determines that the collecting terminal has notreceived a request to generate the processed data (No in S309), thecollecting terminal causes the process to return to S301 to repeat S301and later.

When the collecting terminal determines that the collecting terminal hasreceived a request to generate the processed data (Yes in S309), thecollecting terminal extracts information regarding the raw data to beused for generating the processed data from the processing request (inS310).

Subsequently, the collecting terminal issues a unique ID for theprocessed data to be generated (in S311) and generates an associationrelationship between the raw data to be used for generating theprocessed data and the unique ID (in S312). After that, the collectingterminal transmits the generated association relationship to the datastorage servers 30 (in S313).

Deleting Terminal

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the process that is executed by the deletingterminal. The deleting terminal that is described with reference to FIG.9 has the same configuration as the mobile terminal 10 illustrated inFIG. 2. As illustrated in FIG. 9, when the deleting terminal comes intocontact with the data storage servers 30 (Yes in S401), the deletingterminal transmits, to the data storage servers 30, an ACK received fromthe management server 40 (in S402).

When the deleting terminal does not come into contact with the datastorage servers 30 and comes into contact with the management server 40(No in S401 and Yes in S403), the deleting terminal receives an ACK fromthe management server 40 (in S404) and carries the ACK to the datastorage servers 30 along a transfer path of a user who holds thedeleting terminal (in S405). After that, the deleting terminal causesthe process to return to S401 to repeat S401 and later. When thedeleting terminal comes into contact with none of the data storageservers 30 and the management server 40 (No in S401 and No in S403), thedeleting terminal causes the process to return to S401 to repeat S401and later.

Data Storage Servers

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the process that is executed by each of thedata storage servers 30. As illustrated in FIG. 10, when a data storageserver 30 receives the association relationship between the raw data andthe unique ID from the collecting terminal (Yes in S501), the datastorage server 30 generates a association list 31 on the basis of thereceived association relationship and register the generated associationlist 31 in the data storage server 30 (in S502).

The data storage server 30 references the held association list 31,identifies the raw data stored in the storage 32 of the data storageserver 30, reads the identified raw data from the storage 32 andtransmits the read raw data to the collecting terminal (in S503).

When the data storage server 30 receives the ACK from the collectingterminal instead of the association relationship between the raw dataand the unique ID (No in S501 and Yes in S504), the data storage server30 extracts the unique ID from the received ACK (in S505).

Then, the data storage server 30 references the association list 31 heldby the data storage server 30, identifies the raw data corresponding tothe extracted unique ID, and deletes the identified raw data from thestorage 32 (in S506 and S507). When the data storage server 30 receivesnone of the ACK and the association relationship between the raw dataand the unique ID from the collecting terminal (No in S501 and No inS504), the data storage server 30 causes the process to return to S501to repeat S501 and later.

Management Server

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the process that is executed by the managementserver 40. As illustrated in FIG. 11, when the management server 40receives the processed data from the collecting terminal through thenear field wireless communication (Yes in S601), the management server40 extracts the unique ID that has been associated with the processeddata (in S602). After that, the management server 40 inserts the uniqueID into the ACK (in S603) and transmits, through the near field wirelesscommunication, the ACK to the deleting terminal detected as beingwirelessly communicable with the management server 40 (in S604).

Effects

According to the first embodiment, the management server 40 may usetransfer path of the user holding the mobile terminal 10 and collectdata through the near field wireless communication using Wi-Fi or thelike. Since the management server 40 collects data through the nearfield wireless communication using Wi-Fi or the like, a communicationcost may be reduced. In addition, since the management server 40 usesthe mobile terminal 10 held by the user, the cost of introducing thesystem may be reduced.

Second Embodiment

The first embodiment describes the example in which the mobile terminal10 receives a processing request from the management server 40,transfers to a location near the data storage servers 30 and generatesprocessed data. Embodiments, however, are not limited to theaforementioned example.

For example, Wi-Fi or ad-hoc communication may be used to carry aprocessing request transmitted by the management server 40 to a mobileterminal located near the data storage servers 30. The second embodimentdescribes examples in which mobile terminals relay a processing request,a deletion request and the like.

FIG. 12 is a diagram describing the flow in which the mobile terminalsrelay a request. The devices illustrated in FIG. 12 are assumed tocommunicate by using Wi-Fi or execute ad-hoc communication. Each deviceperiodically transmits a radio wave and determines whether or notanother device communicable with each device exists.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, when the management server 40 detects themobile terminal MTA located close enough to the management server 40 tocommunicate with the management server 40, the management server 40transmits a processing request to the mobile terminal MTA. At this time,the mobile terminal MTA may generate an association list of processeddata to be generated, raw data, and a unique ID on the basis of theprocessing request.

Then, the mobile terminal MTA transfers to a predetermined location asthe user holding the mobile terminal MTA transfers. And there, when themobile terminal MTA detects the mobile terminal MTB located close enoughto the mobile terminal MTA to communicate with the mobile terminal MTA,the mobile terminal MTA transfers the processing request to the mobileterminal MTB. At this time, the mobile terminal MTA may transmit theassociation list to the mobile terminal MTB instead of the processingrequest.

After that, the mobile terminal MTB transfers, while holding theprocessing request or the association list, to a certain location as theuser holding the mobile terminal MTB transfers. And there, when themobile terminal MTB detects the data storage servers 30 located closeenough to the mobile terminal MTB to communicate with the mobileterminal MTB, the mobile terminal MTB transmits the association list orthe processing request to the data storage servers 30 and collects rawdata. Then, the mobile terminal MTB holds the processed data, the rawdata, and the unique ID in association with one another.

After that, in a similar method to the aforementioned method, anassociation relationship between the processed data generated by themobile terminal MTB and the unique ID is transmitted from the mobileterminal MTB through another mobile terminal to the management server40. The management server 40 that has received the processed datatransmits an ACK containing the unique ID to a mobile terminalneighboring the management server 40. The ACK is transmitted to the datastorage servers 30 by a similar method to the method described withreference to FIG. 12. Thus, even when the mobile terminals relay variousrequests, a common unique ID within the system may be transferred, andthe amount of traffic may be suppressed.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the mobileterminal MTB collects raw data through another mobile terminal. Thedevices illustrated in FIG. 13 have similar functions to the devicesillustrated in FIG. 12.

As illustrated in FIG. 13, when the management server 40 detects themobile terminal MTA located close enough to the management server 40 tocommunicate with the management server 40, the management server 40transmits a processing request to the mobile terminal MTA. At this time,the mobile terminal MTA may generate an association list of processeddata to be generated, raw data, and a unique ID on the basis of theprocessing request.

Then, the mobile terminal MTA transfers to a predetermined location asthe user holding the mobile terminal MTA transfers. And there, when themobile terminal MTA detects the mobile terminal MTB located close enoughto the mobile terminal MTA to communicate with the mobile terminal MTA,the mobile terminal MTA transfers the processing request to the mobileterminal MTB. At this time, the mobile terminal MTA may transmit theassociation list instead of the processing request.

After that, the mobile terminal MTB transfers, while holding theprocessing request or the association list, to a certain location as theuser holding the mobile terminal MTB transfers. And there, when themobile terminal MTB detects a part of the data storage servers 30, whichis located close enough to the mobile terminal MTB to communicate withthe mobile terminal MTB, the mobile terminal MTB transmits theassociation list or the processing request to the detected a part of thedata storage servers 30 and collects a part of raw data to be used forgenerating the processed data.

And there, when the mobile terminal MTB detects a mobile terminal MTClocated close enough to the mobile terminal MTB to communicate with themobile terminal MTB, the mobile terminal MTB transmits the associationlist or the processing request to the detected mobile terminal MTC andrequests the mobile terminal MTC to collect the raw data.

When the mobile terminal MTC detects a part of the data storage servers30, which is located close enough to the mobile terminal MTC tocommunicate with the mobile terminal MTC, the mobile terminal MTCtransmits the association list or the processing request to the detecteda part of the data storage servers 30 and collects a part of the rawdata. Then, the mobile terminal MTC transmits the collected raw data tothe mobile terminal MTB.

After that, the mobile terminal MTB uses the raw data collected by themobile terminal MTB and the raw data received from the mobile terminalMTC to generate the processed data. Then, the mobile terminal MTB holdsthe processed data, the raw data, and the unique ID in association withone another. After that, an association relationship between theprocessed data and the unique ID is carried to the management server 40by using the method described with reference to FIG. 12.

As described above, even when a mobile terminal may communicate withonly a part of the data storage servers 30, the mobile terminal maycollect raw data by using another mobile terminal. Thus, the mobileterminal may collect raw data by using a method appropriate for statesof radio waves in wireless communication, generate processed data andtransmit the processed data to the management server 40.

Other Embodiments

The first and second embodiments have been described above. However,other various embodiments may be achieved. Thus, other embodiments willbe described below.

Timing of Generation of Unique ID

The first embodiment describes the example in which a unique ID isassigned to processed data to be generated when a processing request isreceived. The timing of assigning the unique ID is not limited to this.For example, after the mobile terminal 10 collects raw data from thedata storage servers 30 and generates processed data, the mobileterminal 10 may assign a unique ID to the processed data and generate anassociation list. The timing of assigning the unique ID may bearbitrarily changed on the basis of a processing load of the mobileterminal 10 or the like.

Data to be Transmitted in Real Time

After the mobile terminal 10 collects raw data from the data storageservers 30 and generates processed data, the mobile terminal 10 maydetermine, on the basis of the type of the processed data or the like,whether or not the processed data is data to be transmitted in realtime. When the mobile terminal 10 determines that the processed data isdata to be transmitted in real time, the mobile terminal 10 may transmitthe generated processed data to the management server 40 through a 3Gnetwork or the like instead of the near field communication using Wi-Fior the like. When the mobile terminal 10 determines that the processeddata is not data to be transmitted in real time, the mobile terminal 10transmits the generated processed data to the management server 40through the near field wireless communication using Wi-Fi or the like.

In this manner, the mobile terminal 10 may transmit urgent processeddata to the management server 40 without a delay. Examples of data to betransmitted in real time are processed data with an error, processeddata with a high probability of occurrence of an error, and processeddata that is not properly generated.

Mobile Terminals

The embodiments describe the examples in which the mobile terminals aremobile phones, smart phones or the like. However, other terminals may beused as the mobile terminals. For example, in-vehicle devices may beused as the mobile terminals. When the in-vehicle devices are used asthe mobile terminals, other wireless communication may be used insteadof Wi-Fi or the like.

Timing of Deletion

The embodiments describe that a single unique ID is associated with asingle raw data item. When the management server 40 transmits aplurality of processing requests, a plurality of processed data itemsmay be associated with a single raw data item. In this case, the datastorage servers 30 may delete the raw data item when the data storageservers 30 receive all unique IDs, that is, ACKs corresponding to theprocessing requests. The data storage servers 30 may keep, withoutdeleting, the raw data item corresponding to the unique ID contained inthe ACK and may treat the raw data item as a data item that is notprovided to a mobile terminal.

System

Among the processes described above in the embodiments, all or a part ofthe processes that are automatically executed may be manually executed.All or a part of the processes that are manually executed may beautomatically executed by using a known method. The process procedures,the control procedures, the specific names and the information includingthe various types of parameters and data, which are described in theembodiments or illustrated in the drawings, may be arbitrarily changedunless otherwise specified.

The constituent elements of the devices illustrated in the drawings arefunctionally conceptual and need not be physically configured asillustrated. Specifically, specific forms of separation and integrationof the constituent elements of the devices are not limited to thoseillustrated in the drawings, and all or a part of the constituentelements of the devices may be functionally or physically separated orintegrated on an arbitrary basis on the basis of various types of loadsor usage states. All or a part of the various processing functions thatare executed by the devices may be achieved by CPUs analyzing andexecuting programs. Or, all or a part of the various processingfunctions that are executed by the devices may be achieved as hardwareby a wired logic.

Hardware Configurations

Next, a hardware configuration of a mobile terminal will be described.The devices illustrated in FIG. 1 have similar configurations. Thus, ahardware configuration regarding a mobile terminal will be describedbelow, and detailed descriptions of hardware configurations regardingother devices are omitted.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configurationof a mobile terminal. As illustrated in FIG. 14, a mobile terminal 100includes a communication controller 100 a, a physical layer (PHY) 100 b,a bus interface 100 c, a memory 100 d and a CPU 100 e.

The communication controller 100 a is a processing unit that executesthe near field wireless communication with other devices. For example,the communication controller 100 a is an antenna or a network interfacecard. The PHY 100 b is a physical layer hardware part. Operationsrelated to a network connection and data transmission in the physicallayer are defined in the PHY 100 b. The PHY 100 b achieves wirelesscommunication with another device through the communication controller100 a. The PHY 100 b may be provided as software.

The bus interface 100 c is used to transmit and receive signals to andfrom the CPU 100 e, the memory 100 d, the PHY 100 b and the like. Thememory 100 d is a storage device that includes a read-only memory (ROM)and a random access memory (RAM) and stores the association list, thedata obtained in the processes and a program that causes the CPU 100 eto execute various processes in a data collection method according tothe embodiments. The CPU 100 e is a processing unit that implements thevarious processes of the mobile terminal 100 and executes the variousprocesses in the data collection method according to the embodiments.

The CPU 100 e reads programs for executing the processes of theprocessing units illustrated in FIGS. 2, 5, and the like. Then, the CPU100 e loads the read programs in the RAM and runs processes that executethe functions described with reference to FIGS. 2, 5, and the like.Specifically, the processes execute similar functions to functions ofthe request reception unit 14, the list generation unit 15, the IDassignment unit 16, the ID notification unit 17, the processed datageneration unit 18, and the processed data transmission unit 19. Inaddition, the processes execute similar functions to functions of thelist reception unit 34, the data transmission unit 35, the ACK receptionunit 36 and the deletion unit 37. The mobile terminal 100 reads andexecutes the programs and thereby operates as an information processingdevice that executes the data collection method.

All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended forpedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the inventionand the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, andare to be construed as being without limitation to such specificallyrecited examples and conditions, nor does the organization of suchexamples in the specification relate to a showing of the superiority andinferiority of the invention. Although the embodiments of the presentinvention have been described in detail, it should be understood thatthe various changes, substitutions, and alterations could be made heretowithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mobile terminal, comprising: a memory; and aprocessor configured to: receive a processing request transmitted from amanagement server; transmit to a data storage device, on basis of theprocessing request, a transmission request for transmitting first data;receive the first data from the data storage device; generate seconddata on basis of the first data; assign a first identifier to the seconddata; transmit the second data in association with the first identifierto the management server; transmit an association relationship betweenthe first identifier and the first data to the data storage device;receive, from the management server, a second identifier of data to bedeleted; and transmit the second identifier to the data storage device.2. The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the processor isconfigured to: determine whether the second data is urgent data;transmit the second data to the management server through near fieldwireless communication upon determining that the second data is noturgent data; and transmit the second data to the management serverthrough a communication line for a mobile phone upon determining thatthe second data is urgent data.
 3. A data storage device, comprising: astorage unit; and a processor configured to: receive, from a firstmobile terminal, a transmission request for transmitting first data;read, from the storage unit, the first data on basis of the transmissionrequest; transmit the first data to the first mobile terminal; receive,from the first mobile terminal, an association relationship between afirst identifier and the first data; store, in the storage unit, thefirst identifier in association with the first data; receive, from asecond mobile terminal, a second identifier of data to be deleted; andreference the storage unit to identify data associated with the secondidentifier.
 4. The data storage device according to claim 3, wherein theprocessor is configured to: delete the data to be deleted upon receivingall of identifiers stored in the storage unit in association with thedata to be deleted.
 5. A data collection system, comprising: a datastorage device including a storage unit; a first mobile terminalincluding a first processor, the first processor configured to: receivea processing request transmitted from a management server; transmit tothe data storage device, on basis of the processing request, atransmission request for transmitting first data; receive the first datafrom the data storage device; generate second data on basis of the firstdata; assign a first identifier to the second data; transmit the seconddata in association with the first identifier to the management server;and transmit an association relationship between the first identifierand the first data to the data storage device; a second mobile terminalincluding a second processor, the second processor configured to:receive, from the management server, a second identifier of data to bedeleted; and transmit the second identifier of data to be deleted to thedata storage device; a third processor configured to: receive thetransmission request from the first mobile terminal; read, from thestorage unit, the first data on basis of the transmission request;transmit the first data to the first mobile terminal; receive, from thefirst mobile terminal, the association relationship between the firstidentifier and the first data; store, in the storage unit, the firstidentifier in association with the first data; receive, from the secondmobile terminal, the second identifier of data to be deleted; andreference the storage unit to identify data associated with the secondidentifier.
 6. The data collection system according to claim 5, whereinthe first processor is configured to: determine whether the second datais urgent data; transmit the second data to the management serverthrough near field wireless communication upon determining that thesecond data is not urgent data; and transmit the second data to themanagement server through a communication line for a mobile phone upondetermining that the second data is urgent data.
 7. The data collectionsystem according to claim 5, wherein the third processor is configuredto: delete the data to be deleted upon receiving all of identifiersstored in the storage unit in association with the data to be deleted.